(114) Pick Making Part 1: Material Selection 

you have without a doubt the best videos on the lock picking circuit. very informational and excellent for those just starting out

"For you Europeans" I like this guy

You're the best lock-picking channel on RU-vid because of things like this.

I'v used dipsticks but the ones I found usually measured .040" or more, which I think is too thick for picks. They make GREAT tension wrenches though.

Thank you Bill for all the information you have shared with us over the years, I wouldn't have a lock pick if it weren't for you, happy retirement !

Bill, these videos of yours are so helpful. There are way too many people just showing off and posting nonsense. Yours are no bs and you come over as a genuine guy that really enjoys the subject. I'd recommend anyone to subscribe.

4:23 ..."it's so long I can't even fit it into the camera" haha I feel your pain bro :p

Hi Bill, long time viewer here to wish you a happy retirement and to share a brief story of your impact on my life. When i was about 22 i watched this video. I watched several of your other videos, i liked your demeanor and was getting interested in picking locks as a hobby. I began with 2 bobby pins and opened a master lock, no surprise there im sure. When i stumbled across this video i realized how with a little ingenuity and some scrap metal i could make a decent set of picks to learn with. So i did. I used windshield wiper inserts and made a variety of picks and tensioners. I picked every lock i owned with those. I visited a local locksmith to have a car key copied and mustered the courage to ask him if he had any locks for me to practice on, assuring him i would return them. I left with my hands and arms full. I picked all of those locks, including an abus padlock with a very restricted keyway. Fast forward 4 years, i lock my keys in my car doing laundry and call a locksmith. He shows up and lishis my door. I comment that most locksmiths use a long reach and was impressed that he chose to lishi it. We had a little chat and i mentioned i pick locks and he asked me if i needed a job. He worked directly with the locksmith that gave me my first practice locks. 2 years later, and I am a professional locksmith. Im a residential and commercial wizard, and can originate car keys in about 20 minutes. I make a nice salary, help people in the process, and get to live the dream, the REAL dream every day. I bought my first house last year. I have plans to start my own business soon, and teach others how its done. Even though i have a full HPC kit, i still keep my homemade TOK tensioners in it, and although most of my picks have broken, i use them as probes and shims and pry tools. I hope you see this and i hope you know, from the bottom of my heart, i am grateful for the information you provided me throughout the years, and it directly affected my path and purpose in life. When i was 22 i was not in a good place. After developing my skills and with a little luck I'm exactly where i should be. God bless you and enjoy your days with your family.

Another idea while you're savaging through the wrecking yard for wipers, grab the dipsticks out of the cars.

I really appreciate the way you present your videos. They are not filled with unrelated info and they dont have this cluttered up feel that some others do.

I am addicted to your channel. You are a great teacher.

I used to get the return spring reel from the pull mechanism of lawnmowers. Good spring steel

I suspect that banding iron, the stuff they band up pallets of stuff with, would also be a nice material and can be had at virtually no cost at any sort of warehouse, manufacturer, or lumber yard dumpster.

when this video first came out i was a 15 year old mischievous boy who was amazed at the concept of picking locks. i watched this video and promptly raided my sisters stock of hairclips and metal pen lids. its been a pleasure growing up watching your videos. stay safe

I had to come back this far to truly thank you for your time and devotion, THANKS Bill !!!

You forgot to add that street sweeper bristles work really nice for making picks and also really nice for making tensioners. They can be readily collected by following a freshly sweeped road and is easy to find a dozen or so with a short walk. 👍

I would imagine a feeler gauge would work the best, just because it is already set as a certain thickness and I see you using your .015 thick pic

@bosnianbill. I just called Sandy at eastern industries. She had a great laugh at why I was calling. She may even start picking locks but she will be watching your videos. Thanks for all you’ve done for the locksport community. I’d love to buy you a beer on day. Brandon

thank you for this series. as usual you are so much more informative, well thought out, and easier to follow than most of RU-vid

If we’re discussing items from Dollar Tree, Dollar General, etc., I’m surprised that the reusable cookie sheets weren’t brought up. The ones from my local Dollar Tree are 0.0236” according to my micrometer. I don’t have the original labels, so I don’t know what the metal content is (online it just says steel), but I can look next time I go there. Bang-for-your-buck-wise, the dollar you spend will easily net you 25-35 picks and some tension tools from the 9”x13” sheet for $1 plus tax.

Hi bill After lots of trial and looots of error You are 100% right Im ordering feeler guage in .030 Its the best material I paid 5 bucks for a set of feeler guages at auto barn and they are strong as hell Thanks again

For me a significant part of the hobby is making the picks.

With the ease of getting top-quality picks these days I doubt many will make their own, but it's how I started in the pre-internet days when info was hard to come by. Mine came from hacksaw blades and I quickly learned that making a good pick from them was nearly an art form in itself. Usually they'd overheat in grinding to rough shape leaving them to bend and break within a few uses. It took me about an hour to make a pick and in the end only 1 in 4 were fairly good. I left the locksport game ages ago giving my picks to a friend wanting to play with them. Now I'm getting back in the game and am finding that a feeler gauge set makes a great basis for shimming and decoding tools and I think the wider sizes will also make better picks. Perfect length for shortys or nmake use of the hole and add a handle for normal sizes. Only going to try simple shapes like pin lifters, just too easy to get the real thing to try anything complex like a wave rake. One trick I've learned is to rough cut these to shape with shears or snips- it saves huge time and risk over grinding.

I was just shopping around with the wife for Halloween stuff. I found a pack of those pumpkin carving kits that looks perfect to make picks with. They already come with a handle too! Just thought I'd throw that out there since it's October and those are all around right now. The steel seems pretty sturdy and it's not too thick, maybe 30 thousandths of an inch of guess.

correcting you on a few things Bill: 303 is Tough and Flexible Stainless steel, High carbon steel is Hard and Brittle. keep that in mind (304 is the same as 303 just weldable) (316 is Tougher and Less flexible but Resistant to Acid)

Hahahahaha the ending killed me!! "I'm an anal guy" lmfao the context

Also JR hacksaw blades after yo brake of the end make an excellent broken key extractor, well as long as it fits in along side the key that is. I found it better than the tool made for the job. Hope it helps someone

Maybe you can collect the oil dipsticks while scavenging wiper inserts? I think they might work too.

Thank you. I know filming quaduples the time to accomplish even the simplest of tasks and that doesn't include editing and uploading.

I made my first pick and pry bar out of a windshield wiper blades too days ago and used my dremel to grind to shape everything with so far I made one pick and a pry bar they work very good and I have picked opened too master locks and four Chinese locks very fun hobby for me..

Another good material is steel banding used for securing large loads to tractor trailers. It comes in 1/2" to 1" widths in thicknesses from 0.010" to 0.060" in 100' rolls.

changed my wipers yesterday, was sad to find that they had no metal in the blades. no wonder those blades sucked ass lol

good info and that feeler gauge at the end looks perfect for picks, 25 foot roll for 50 picks. I may have a new weekend project.

Lovin' it, Bill. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. I had the same problem with hacksaw blades being too brittle. With a wee bit of practice, you can draw the temper back down to a spring temper (somewhere in the dark blue range) with a small torch. Start at the handle end and work out; go slowly because the thin sections overheat really quickly. And remember that the oxidation colors don't show up until you move the flame away. The same technique works with other carbon steels.

Spray it with WD40 and put a dessicant bag in the container with it. That should help. Keep it near the furnace or water heater.

Thank you so much for all that you have taught me.

Street sweeper blades you find on the ground have made pretty decent large torsion wrenches for me

03:59 well I guess that’s a good problem to have !!! Hello from Nakina Ontario, Canada. Jay🇨🇦💯

4:00 - I have that problem too.

Excellent demonstration. I used a Sawz-all blade. Worked great at .035"

With the bread knife you could just sand it till you get the thickness you need plus the hacksaw blade idea isn’t bad you just need to get a brand with good steel I’ve made some before and they haven’t snapped yet it has people asking me to open stuff when they get locked out 😂

Oh. That's actually great news, i have a couple of feeler gauges lying around :D

Feeler gauges are also available as tapes in 5m rolls. These costs about 5$ for a roll on Amazon. Another material that would be considered is band saw blades. These are significantly more flexible and not so brittle than the hacksaw blades, shown in the video, especially those cheap ones from China I reallydo not like to use.

7:27 you have to look at the wipers before you pick them so you get thin ones or thick ones

G'day Bill, really enjoying your channel, specifically the 5 parts of making picks. Well done to you Sir, many thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks for the info !

Tattoo machine springs come in various widths ,and length ,and are high carbon sprung steel(some are more rigid/harder than others).. relatively low cost too..very similar in size and quality to the feeler guages and come in black,Matt and stainless..

Instead of buying a feeler gauge set you can just buy 12" lengths of feeler stock. Comes in different widths and metals.

You have put a lot a thought in this... By the prices I now see how much money a company makes that mass produces picks. A LOT! I would say.

They had these spring steel clips used for clipping electrical boxes to suspended grid ceiling wire. Those clips were great for making into lock picks. They worked better far than hacksaw blades. Lennox hacksaw blades are better than the crappy ones. Artists' pallet knives make decent picks, as do feeler gauges. I started using tension wrenches made from corset wire, (electrician's fish tapes). I keep a coffee can filled with water next to my grinder and use it to cool the steel as I grind it. The old street sweeper metal brush bristles were good too. And as a life long ?teenth generation musician, there is always music wire. Hobby razor saw blades also work okay.

Awesome video series Sir!! Thanks for taking the time to do them all. My favorite material is Cold Steel K series kitchen knives, made from VG-1 Stainless Steel, got em on ebay!! Thanks Again!!

I applaud your effort here

made a few outta hack saw.. just gotta temper the steel, but i get all the broken ones any how for free lol

Thanks Bill, your the best, Brother ;)

They are used to precisely measure gaps or to shim machinery parts. they are called feeler gauges.

My only concern in using the B Ass 397 Kryptonite lock is that the sob would just use some bolt cutters on a chain link the 397 can hold. But, even 3' B.cutter jaws can only open so wide. My hunting trailer on my farm was being hit until I put a massive link size chain and huge shackle size lock into the equation. No bolt cutters could open near wide enough & my installation of an infrared camera got their faces & tag #. I left short 1x4's with 10 penny nails driven through them & laid on the path way which left their nice Silverado w\ 4 flats. The Sheriff informed their truck was vandalized after they walked home...... Which was The "Cherry" on the Cake! Hopefully this causes I few smiles for those who've been hit by punks.

5:42 “so making shit with this” lol

Great tip, don´t apologize, we´re all here because we want your opinion. Stay safe and stay legal ;)

new to your videos. seen acouple dozen so far. was thinking, can it get any better?? than bam! i find these. definitely on my to-do list

i made a great wrench from a steel straw from a street cleaner truck

If your in Canada checkout Home Hardware. They have a Kuraidori food scoop for only like $4, pure high grade stainless. It's just under 160" square of usable material and exactly 0.030" thick. Item number 4142-645 I believe, it comes in 2 sizes. Also not to expensive, stainless steel chimney pipe for wood burning stoves already comes with a mirror polish on it and is 0.026" thick, that's what I make my pick tips out of

those gage feelers for sparkplugs. there's also gage feelers for valves which are adou 7 inches long.

Hello, I just started watching your videos. I wanted to point out that you can temper hacksaw blades by baking them in the oven at a specific temperature- approx. 500F for an hour - to temper their hardness and turn them into a spring. This makes them more usable.

_Do not_ try this with stainless -- I've had nothing but bad results home heat-treating stainless. It can be done, but it's very fussy work and beyond the capabilities of the equipment I have on hand. Carbon steel has the advantage that you can re-anneal (or just normalize) it to remove work-hardening; you then re-harden and temper it again. This has extended the life of some of my... more abused picks.

Only issue with hose clamps is that a lot of times they are just sold loose, or even in the packaging already circled together, and you have to unbend it. Which isn't hard if you have the tools, but if you don't (like me) it's a pain. Ever try bending something straight freehand? It usually doesn't end up straight lol

I make my tension tools from the stainless in old windshield wipers.

Thanks Bill

Thanks again Bill ;)

seems thickness and width have become interchangeable? lol good vid/info, thanks

Metal kabob skewers might be a good choice.

thanks ma dude! super helpful.

10-4 good buddy

Thanks a lot. Very useful information.

i use a recoil spring off an old lawn more for picks

Nice. Thank you

Thanks Bill!

Bill, I recently purchased the sink snake like the one yu have in the video. My question is, does the sink snake work well as a tension wrench ??

i had an interesting idea while watching the explanation of the hacksaw blades. could you cut a hacksaw blade into the shape of a pick with a part of the cutting edge untouched in a spot so you can just cut the pins out from the inside(by raking the pick back and forth on the pins till they are gone)?

I'm not much into metal working but I do a lot of work with composites, I'm thinking of making very stiff carbon fiber picks, my only question is feeling. Will it effect my ability to feel the fine nuances of the lock?

nice!! thank you, Sir.

ban-saw blades are the best

well you can might as well buy a stainless steel plate. it would be like 30 cents per pick

Would steel strap work? It's 20 thou, and comes wrapped around our pallets to hold down parts during transport. It's basically free.

hey love your video want to let you know i tried used the small knife that come in a four pack and they work perfect cause it come with a hand

thanks bill great video

Great video! Lots of info. I've used feeler gauges but they rust very quickly. I didn't even know they made a stainless version, Thanx! Do you have any idea if the drain cleaner has the same problem?

Check out feeler gauges at mcmaster carr

Very nice

I have alway been amazed by lock picking. I have done intricate work on hydraulic valves, copensators, and spools for years along with a mechanical background. I think I have finally decided to try the art of lock picking. My question is what would be your recommendation for a beginner picker as far as a quality set of picks as far as brand. I see a lot of people manufacturer kits but I have also heard several references about having to tweak the picks to eliminate rough edges or burrs. Any advice would be appreciated as I would rather get a feel for picking rather than a feel of machining picks, until I begin to develop preferences and a genuine understanding of what I may desire in cuctom picks.

How do you buy the feeler gauge blades? I see no prices on the site?

In your opinion what would be the best material and sorta a standard thickness to (get started) making your own picks from ?? I made a beautiful bogata rake pick (took about 2 hours to make ) from the sink snake roll I recently purchased and it snapped/broke inside a lock

could you use bike wheel steel spokes to make tension wrenches or picks? as there are about 28-36 in a single wheel...motorcycle ones would be thicker

How can you make a tensioning tool out of music wire? As a piano technician , I think strings are too thin and too round to use right? =)

oh god the feeler gauges are all different thickness if i made a set of pick with them i would be able to live with myself having all my picks not the same thickness

I wonder though, do the picks HAVE to be steel, or could some kind of cloth and epoxy composite also be good? It would be kind of good to have a material that you can just cut the picks out of with scissors, even if they're not durable.

I am gonna try the ss knives first

Bill I ordered and received a roll of the carbon steel feeler gage, I found that it has a lil' surface rust only on the end but my basement workshop area gets moisture at times and afraid it may rust before I get to use it all? Any tips and/or suggestions for storage to prevent rusting ??

can you do a video or series of tension wrench making too?

I have often wondered about using steel banding they use for packaging, you can find all you need in a construction site dumpster and it reacts like spring steel. any thoughts?

Noticed that you said nothing about "street sweeper" blades which one can usually find scattered about in strip mall parking lots. Have you not used them?